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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE 






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PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 



BY THE AUTHOR OF " SCENES IN CHUSAN," 
"LEARN TO SAY NO," &C M &C. 




PHILADELPHIA: 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 
NO. 821 CHESTNUT STKEKT. 



/*n 



A^ X 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by 

JAMES DUNLAP, Treas., 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District 

of Pennsylvania. 



STEREOTYPED BY 

JESPER HARDING & SON, 

INQUIRER BUILDING, SOUTH THIRD STREET, PHILADELPHIA. 



CONTENTS. 





PAGE 


Of what use is religion ? 


5 


Assurance of God's love, . 


19 


Peace of conscience, 


- 29 


Joy in the Holy Ghost, 


34 


Increase of grace, 


. 38 


Perseverance therein to the end, 


44 


Benefit of religion at death, 


. 66 


The use of religion at the dyiug hour, 


72 


Immediately pass into glory, 


. 78 


Perfect in holiness, . 


91 


As to their bodies, 


. 95 


Till the resurrection, 


98 


Raised up in glory, 


. 103 


Openly acknowledged, 


104 


Openly acquitted, 


. 106 


Day of judgment, . 


108 


Perfect! v blessed, 


. Ill 



(3) 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 



OF WHAT USE IS RELIGION ? 

There are different opinions on this 
subject. Some seem to think it a vain 
thing altogether, a delusion, a cun- 
ningly devised fable. Others believe 
that it is necessary to lead a religious 
life, in order to secure that blessedness 
in the future state of being which is 
promised only to the righteous. 

A large portion of the unconverted, 
who are of the class that acknowledge 
the importance of being religious ac- 
cording to the rules of the Bible, and 

who in some measure feel the necessity 
1* (5) 



6 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

of being born again in order to be ad- 
mitted into heaven, are accustomed to 
regard religion as dull, and all Chris- 
tian duties as irksome. In their hearts 
they say, " Let me die the death of the 
righteous, and let my last end be like 
his," while they would, if possible, be 
excused from living the life of the 
righteous. 

But we are about to show that re- 
ligion is everyway desirable ; that it 
is both profitable and pleasant, and 
that too in this life, as well as in re- 
gard to the life which is to come. 
" Seek ye first the kingdom of God, 
and his righteousness, and all these 
things shall be added unto you." 
" Happy is the man that findeth wis- 
dom, and the man that getteth under- 
standing. * * * Her ways are 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 7 

ways of pleasantness, and all her paths 
are peace." 

It is well — it is both pleasant and 
profitable, to "remember now thy 
Creator in the days of thy youth, while 
the evil days come not, nor the years 
draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have 
no pleasure in them." It is pleasant 
and profitable to have friends, and to 
have such friends as will be good, and 
kind, and powerful, both able and 
willing to help us ; such too as will be 
near us in trouble, and ready to help 
us in time of need. Such a friend may 
we have in God. We need such a 
friend all through life. Those who 
have good and kind parents and pleas- 
ant homes are in better circumstances 
than orphans and homeless children. 
Well, God is the Father of all his peo- 
ple ; he will provide for them, and 



8 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

watch over them ; he has an inherit- 
ance for them, and there is a rest which 
remains for the people of God. 

It is well for the sheep to have a 
shepherd, and every moment that their 
shepherd is absent from them they are 
in peril. Well; Christians, and none 
but Christians, are in the fold of Christ ; 
and Christians, and none but Christians, 
can say, " The Lord is my Shepherd ; 
I shall not want." 

It is pleasant for the lambs to be 
folded in the kind Shepherd's arms and 
carried in his bosom ; and that is the 
way our good Shepherd cares for the 
lambs of his fold. 

It is pleasant for children to hear 
Christ say, " Suffer the little children 
to come unto me and forbid them not, 
for of such is the kingdom of God." 
There are many pleasant reflections for 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 9 

those who in early life have begun to 
serve the Lord. The Lord is pleased 
with those who consecrate to him the 
dew of their youth. Christ is pleased 
with the youth that take his yoke and 
bear it with delight. It is pleasant 
for the youth to reflect that if they 
live, they will have a life time to 
spend in doing good ; and though they 
have given up the world to follow 
Christ, yet they will suffer no loss by 
it, for they shall receive " manifold 
more in this present time, and in the 
world to come, life everlasting." 

There is comfort and encouragement 
for the man in his maturity, the strong 
man, who feels that now is his time to 
labour, now the season to be laying 
up in store for a time of need, for the 
day of adversity — there is encourage- 
ment for him if he can see that every 



10 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

stroke tells, that every day is profit- 
ably employed. Well, so it is with 
every Christian who leads a godly life ; 
for he may reflect that he is laying up 
treasures in heaven ; that he is labour- 
ing not for the meat which perisheth, 
but for that meat which endureth unto 
everlasting life, and that all things 
work together for good to them that 
love God. 

The aged Christian finds increasing 
enjoyment in religion ; godliness be- 
comes daily more profitable to him, 
till at length he can say to the Lord, 
"AU my springs are in thee." " Whom 
have I in heaven but thee ? and there 
is none upon earth that I desire be- 
sides thee." " Thou shalt guide me 
with thy counsel, and afterward re- 
ceive me to glory." " Surely good- 
ness and mercy shall follow me all the 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 11 

days of my life; and I will dwell in 
the house of the Lord for ever." 

In fine, every Christian, so far as his 
experience goes, heartily subscribes to 
the Scripture declaration, that " godli- 
ness is profitable unto all things, hav- 
ing promise of the life that now is, 
and of that which is to come." 1 
Tim. iv. 8. 

There are many texts and passages 
in the Scriptures which set forth at 
length, or merely allude to the privil- 
eges, and honours, and enjoyments of 
the righteous ; and it would be a profit- 
able employment to look them up and 
group them together. 

There are many, very many promises 
to the righteous — to all who put their 
trust in God. Those who have not 
given attention particularly to this sub- 
ject, would be surprised to find how 



12 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

many such promises there are, and how 
very particular and specific some of 
them are, and in how great variety they 
are ; so that in whatsoever circum- 
stances a person may be placed, he will 
still find, when he looks into God's 
word, that his heavenly Father has an- 
ticipated all his troubles, sorrows, an- 
xieties, pains, and fears, and has pre- 
pared beforehand some words of com- 
fort and encouragement just suited to 
his case — indeed written for hint, for 
his very self. 

A collection of promises has been 
formed into a little volume ; a book 
which is made up entirely of texts 
from the Bible ; it is entitled, " Clarke's 
Scripture Promises." They are ar- 
ranged according to their character in 
three principal parts, and those parts 
again divided into several chapters. 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 13 

Such a service has been per- 
formed for us, in regard to the lead- 
ing doctrines of the Scriptures, by the 
authors and compilers of catechisms, 
in classifying those doctrines, and giv- 
ing therewith (as is the case in the 
Larger Catechism) the texts, or some 
of the texts, which prove the several 
doctrines as they are stated. Such is 
the classification, for example, of the 
benefits which flow to the believer 
from the redemption purchased by 
Christ. And taking the subject which 
we have before us, and that text which 
we have repeated, " Godliness is pro- 
fitable unto all things, having promise 
of the life which now is, and of that 
which is to come," we might study 
long before we would find a more 
happy arrangement for a profitable dis- 
course than this which we have made 

2 



14 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

ready to our hands in the three ques- 
tions of the catechism from the 36 th 
to the 38th, where is shown : 

I. What especial benefits Christians 
enjoy in this life ; or, what is the profit 
of godliness while they remain yet. in 
the world. 

II. What profit it affords at death. 

III. What profit it affords at the 
resurrection. 

Under the first head the particular 
question asked is — and it follows, as 
you may remember, in logical order 
from the answers to the previous ques- 
tions on Justification, Adoption, and 
Sanctification — it asks, "What are the 
benefits which in this life do accomp- 
any or flow from Justification, Adop- 
tion, and Sanctification ?" To which the 
answer is, " The benefits which in this 
life do accompany or flow from Justi- 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 15 

fication, Adoption, and Sanctification, 
are, Assurance of God's love, Peace of 
conscience, Joy in the Holy Ghost, In- 
crease of grace, and Perseverance there- 
in to the end." 

Those who have committed to mem- 
ory this excellent summary of Bible 
doctrine, can testify as to its useful- 
ness to them ; for, how many, many 
times have they repeated over to them- 
selves some of these answers ! When 
travelling, or engaged in labour, or 
seated by the fireside musing, how 
often has this cluster of benefits cheered 
and refreshed them ! 

What benefit have you of your re- 
ligion ? something whispers to the 
heart. And the believer answers : 
What benefit of my religion ? Why, 
I trust that I am Justified, and Adop- 
ted, and am enjoying something of 



16 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

that work of grace in the heart called 
Sanctification. 

But by choosing Christ so early, and 
by endeavouring to lead a religious 
life for so long a time before death, 
do you not lose many of the enjoy- 
ments of life ? and would it not be 
enough if you could become pious only 
a little before you have to leave the 
world, just so as to be able to die the 
death of the righteous ? 

And what will the believer have to 
say in reply to such a query ? Why, he 
will say, If I am justified, and adopted, 
and have commenced in me the work of 
sanctification, the sooner that is done 
the better, surely ; and then there are 
certain other benefits which in this life 
do accompany or flow from them. 
One of these benefits is the assurance 
of God's love, and that is desirable at 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 17 

an} r time ; indeed, I do not see how 
I could live an hour without it. An- 
other benefit is peace of conscience, 
and is there any worldly good, or 
any worldly pleasure to be compared 
with it ? Peace of conscience ! Why, 
the gold of all the world cannot buy it; 
and without peace of conscience how 
is anything to be enjoyed ? What en- 
joj^ment is there in the beholding of 
riches, if I must have an uneasy con- 
science all the time ? Could I enjoy 
my table, no matter how well ordered 
or sumptuous, if with it I must have 
a troubled conscience ? Or what com- 
fort could I find at home or abroad, 
in company or alone, unless I had also 
peace of conscience ? 

And then I may have joy in the 
Holy Ghost ; and that is something 

which the world cannot give or take 
2* 



18 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

away ; and it is better than any other 
joy : it is pure joy. Joy in the Holy 
Ghost ! I know indeed but little of it, 
and am not at all qualified to describe it ; 
but this much I can say, It is a cup 
of which I am drinking deeper and 
deeper ; and the deeper I drink the 
deeper still do I desire to drink ; and 
I wonder how any people can turn 
away from it ; and I feel constrained 
to say, " Come, taste and see," Ho, 
every one that thirsteth, come ye," for 
having once tasted of this joy in the 
Holy Ghost, you will not be willing to 
turn again to the beggarly elements 
of this world, nor ever again will you 
think of comparing " the pleasures of 
sin for a season" with the profits of 
godliness. 

And again, there is the benefit of 
increase in grace : and if grace is good 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 19 

at all, the more one has of it the bet- 
ter; the earlier, therefore, he begins 
to grow in grace the better. 
We may speak first of the 

ASSURANCE OF GOD'S LOVE. 

What is it ? * " It is a sensible assurance, 
which is grounded upon a persons pre- 
sent experience of the communications 
of divine love ; and the object of it is 
Christ formed in the soul. It is a per- 
suasion in the minds of believers, 
grounded on evidence furnished by 

* We wish to state that we have woven into these 
discourses the ideas of different minds, some of which 
we have given in their own words and designated by 
the quotation marks, and sometimes those marks 
may be wanting where they ought to be. We have 
helped ourselves mostly out of " Fisher's Catechism,'* 
and " Lectures on the Shorter Catechism" by Ashbel 
Green, D. D. 



20 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

God that they are the objects of his 
special love." 

Assurance of faith is a somewhat 
different thing : " it is grounded on the 
infallible word of God which cannot lie ; 
and the object of it is Christ in the 
promise." 

Assurance of God's love flows from 
justification, adoption, and sanctifica- 
tion ; and from a sight and sense of 
these. 

There is of course an evidence of 
the special love of God towards all for 
whom he has provided, and to whom 
he has applied, or will yet apply the 
benefits of redemption ; but this sen- 
sible assurance must be enjoyed by 
such as have some tokens that they 
themselves have been justified and 
adopted. 

There will be different degrees of 



THE TROFITS OF GODLINESS. 21 

hope and confidence, as there will be 
different degrees of evidence that the 
person is the subject of justification, 
adoption, and of the work of sanctifi- 
cation. 

The evidence that we are in a state 
of justification, adoption, and sanetifi- 
cation, is obtained by a careful, close, 
persevering, and prayerful examina- 
tion of our religious exercises, our 
state of heart and life ; and by compar- 
ing the whole with what the word of 
God lays down as marks and evidences 
of a gracious state ; and thus by the 
aids of the blessed Spirit, forming a 
sound and satisfactory conclusion, that 
we are truly in the love and favour of 
God. 

We apprehend that the sensible as- 
surance of God's love, or the best, the 



22 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

safest assurance of God's love must be 
founded on the assurance of faith. 

An interesting question with every 
believer is, How may I know that I am 
justified ? or what is sufficient evidence 
of it ? 

I cannot now expect to hear a voice 
in my outward ears saying to me, 
" Thy sins are forgiven thee, go in 
peace." But I read, and I firmly be- 
lieve that God says, if we will confess 
our sins, he is faithful and just to for- 
give us our sins, and to cleanse us 
from all unrighteousness. I believe 
that ; and the very thought causes me 
to love God for it ; and I feel love 
springing up in my heart towards him, 
and I do feel that I do thus confess, 
and that he does absolve me. I be- 
lieve that there is no condemnation to 
those who are in Christ Jqsus, and that 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 23 

belief gives me comfort ; for I have 
some hope that I am in Christ, because 
it does seem that I am able to look, and 
do look to him as the Lamb of God 
that taketh away sin. I do confess 
my sins, as with my hands on the 
head of this victim for the sacrifice, 
and while I do it my whole soul goes 
out in love to God the Father, and in 
love to Christ the Son, who have so 
loved me. 

I read, " Blessed is he whose trans- 
gression is forgiven, whose sin is cov- 
ered," and that very declaration awa- 
kens new love to Him who " forgiveth 
all our iniquities and healeth all our 
diseases, and who removeth our trans- 
gressions from us as far as the east is 
from the west ;" and ever when I think 
of that act of God's free grace, " where- 
in he pardoneth all our sins, and ac- 



24 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

cepteth us as righteous in his sight, 
only for the righteousness of Christ 
imputed to us and received by faith 
alone/' I fall more and more in love 
with the plan of salvation, and with 
him who devised it, and with him who 
wrought it out, and with him who ap- 
plies it. I feel that I do embrace it, 
and that I do enjoy something of the 
blessedness of that man whose iniqui- 
ties are forgiven, and as I advance in 
my Christian course, the evidence of 
my acceptance seems to be strength- 
ening, my love to God seems to be 
deepening, and the tokens of his love 
to me appear to be more evident, more 
constant. 

True, I sometimes lapse into doubts 
and darkness ; but this, I find, may 
always be traced to previous lapses 
into sin and negligence of duty. Thus, 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 25 

the assurance of God's love flows from 
justification. 

Assurance of God's love flows also 
from adoption. And how can any one 
have the assurance that he is adopted ? 
We do not indeed expect to hear God 
speaking out of the skies, calling our 
names and saying, I have chosen you, 
and adopted you as a son. But we 
read, " As many as are led by the 
Spirit of God, they are the sons of 
God ;" and we think that we are led 
by that Spirit ; and we read on, " For 
ye have not received the spirit of 
bondage again to fear, but ye have re- 
ceived the spirit of adoption, where- 
by we cry Abba, Father;" we think 
that we have something of that Spirit, 
and that we can — that we do look up 
to God and call him Father. We think 
— yea, we know that we have some- 

3 



26 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

thing of the feeling of children, for we 
love to commune with God, to hear his 
voice in his word ; we desire to know 
his will, and we love to speak to him 
in prayer — to open all our hearts to 
him ; it causes us sorrow to think of 
grieving him ; we desire to please him ; 
and we long, yes, and we hope, fondly 
hope, by and by to go home where we 
may dwell with him, and love him 
purely, and serve him perfectly, and 
for ever. 

Here, then, in proportion as we have 
these filial feelings have we evidence 
that God loves us as his children ; and 
we know that we love him as sons and 
daughters. 

Assurance of God's love flows from 
sanctification. We may know wheth- 
er we are the subjects of God's free 
grace, whereby we are renewed in the 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 27 

whole man after the image of Him that 
created us, and are enabled more and 
more to die unto sin, and live unto right- 
eousness : we may know whether we 
have an increasing hatred of sin, and 
an increasing love of holiness ! wheth- 
er we more and more long to be deliv- 
ered from this body of sin and death ; 
whether we have an increasing delight 
in all religious exercises ; whether the 
Bible, the closet, the social prayer 
meeting, and the house of God are be- 
coming more dear to us. We may 
know whether we are gaining more 
knowledge of ourselves, of our sinful 
hearts, of our helplessness and ill-de- 
sert ; and whether, as we learn what we 
are by nature, we more and more abhor 
ourselves and pray to be cleansed, to be 
entirely renewed — sanctified wholly, 
in body, soul, and spirit. This we may 



28 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

know. And if we find that we are 
thus growing in grace and in the know- 
ledge of Christ, we thus far have the 
assurance of God's love to us ; and 
the spirit of sanctification will be work- 
ing that love in our hearts by which 
we shall love God more and more. 

People are sometimes to be met 
with, who talk with much apparent 
assurance of their being in the love 
of God, and who declare that they 
know their sins are forgiven ; who at 
the same time betray many marks of 
a yet unhumbled and unrenewed heart. 

Genuine and false assurance may be 
distinguished. True assurance, well 
grounded assurance, makes a person 
more humble; the false puffs up 
with spiritual pride and self-conceit. 
One excites to the practice of every 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 29 

known duty ; the other encourages 
indolence and indifference. 

The person with true assurance is 
willing, yea, he desires to be searched 
and tried, lest perchance he be de- 
ceived ; the presumptuous one hates the 
light, he dreads a close examination, 
lest he should be found wanting, and 
his deeds be reproved. 

PEACE OF CONSCIENCE 

Is another benefit which flows from 
justification, adoption, and sanctifica- 
tion. 

" It is an inward quiet and tranquil- 
lity of the mind, which proceeds from 
a conviction that all our sins are par- 
doned and blotted out for the sake of 
Christ, and that God is truly reconciled, 
and in friendship with the soul." 

He who feels a load of guilt resting 
3* 



30 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

on him can have no peace. He who 
feels the burden of his sins can have 
no peace. He can have no peace who 
remembers that God is angry with the 
wicked, and knows that he is among 
that number. 

But if he hopes that a reconciliation 
has been effected, and that God is pro- 
pitiated, his anger turned away, that 
he rests now in God's favour, he has 
peace. He who feels that an atone- 
ment has been made, that justice is 
satisfied, and that he is a partaker 
in all its benefits, surely will have 
peace of conscience. " Being justified 
by faith, he has peace with God. He 
has boldness to enter into the holiest 
by the blood of Jesus, and he can 
draw near with a true heart, in full 
assurance of faith, having his heart 
sprinkled from an evil conscience." 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 31 

Thus peace of conscience flows from 
justification. 

Peace of conscience flows also from 
adoption. Those who feel that God is 
their Father and Friend, must have 
sweet peace of mind and of heart. They 
may have been great prodigals, and 
still with shame they may remember 
their former vices ; and when they 
went back to their Father's house it 
was with a broken and a humble heart, 
and with the confession, " Father, I 
have sinned against heaven, and in thy 

sight, and am no more worthy ." 

But they heard the gentle, loving 
voice of the Father, saying, " Bring 
hither the best robe, the ring, the fat- 
ted calf, for this my son was dead and 
is alive again ;" and can he but have 
peace ? 

He is now the beloved of the Lord. 



32 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

The Father has cast behind his back 
all the sins of this once prodigal child 
— he makes him an heir — he calls him 
" son." 

Whenever the child looks into the 
word of God, he reads there his own 
Fathers communications to him. When- 
ever he looks abroad on the works of 
creation, he says, My Father made all 
these. When he goes out or comes in, 
he feels that his Father's eye is on him, 
his own Father's hand upholds him. Re- 
tiring to rest, he commits himself to a 
Father's guardian care. In fine, he has 
for a steadfast friend, and constant sup- 
porter, One who will guide him by his 
counsel, and afterwards receive him to 
glory. 

Has not such an one peace of con- 
science ? 

Peace of conscience flows from sane- 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 33 

tification. Not that there is any per- 
son, that is yet cumbered with the 
infirmities of the flesh, who is free from 
sin, and whose conscience therefore 
will never accuse him. No : but rather 
the greater attainments any person 
makes in holiness, the more tender 
will his conscience become — the quicker 
will he be to detect his errors, and his 
short-comings, and the more just esti- 
mate will he have of the extent and 
holiness of the law of God ; but he will 
be perceiving that he loves that law 
more and more, and by experience he 
learns that " great peace have all they 
that love that law, and that nothing 
shall offend them." " He hearkens to 
the commandments and his peace is as a 
river." He is able also to see some 
improvement in himself, some advance 
in the divine life ; and this yields 



34 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

peace of conscience. Any new evi- 
dence of lust subdued, of passions con- 
trolled, will be a cause for peace of 
conscience ; and when he reflects, that by 
the diligent use of the means of grace, 
and by the agency of the Holy Spirit, 
he may eventually be wholly freed from 
sin, and made perfect in holiness, he 
has a " peace which passes understand- 
ing," and a 

JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST 

which likewise is a benefit flowing 
from justification, adoption, and sanc- 
tification. "It is that inward eleva- 
tion and enlargement of soul which 
flows from the lively exercise of faith, 
feasting on Christ in the promise." 

It is said to be a joy in the Holy 
Ghost, for he is the author of it, dwell- 
ing in the believer ; being with him as 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 35 

a comforter ; imparting to him joy and 
peace. Joy is one of the fruits of the 
Spirit. 

Joy flows from justification ; for he 
that is pardoned will rejoice. There is 
ground for his rejoicing. He looks to 
Jesus as his Saviour, his Surety, 
who, by his blood, his obedience, his 
intercession, reconciled him to God. 
He believes on him, trusts in him, and 
" believing he rejoices with joy unspeak- 
able, and full of glory.' 7 

Joy flows from adoption. The child 
thus adopted rejoices in the honours, 
and privileges, and the liberty of the 
sons of God ; and the spirit of adop- 
tion in his heart causes him to cry 
with rapture, Abba, Father. He will 
rejoice because he trusts that his name 
is written in the Lamb's book of life. 

Joy flows from sanctification ; for 



36 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

every advance in holiness, every in- 
crease in grace and in the knowledge 
of Christ, is cause of rejoicing. As 
he increases in sanctification, he will 
be more attuned to praise, he will have 
less of the sorrow of the world ; as 
his heart becomes more pure, and his 
affections more heavenly, he will, of 
course, be growing more happy, more 
joyful. There may be occasional in- 
terruptions to this joy — clouds may 
float across the face of the sun; but 
as he advances towards the perfect 
day his path will be growing brighter 
and brighter. 

His peace and joy shall be as a river. 
When that river is small — as it is at 
its source — it will seem more change- 
ful ; a summer's shower will swell it 
to a bounding torrent, and a few days' 
drouth will dry it up, almost entirely ; 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 37 

it will have its rapids, and eddies, and 
obstructions, to its onward quiet course. 
But as it advances and gathers volume, 
its channel deepens and widens; its cur- 
rent grows stronger, steadier, smooth- 
er; till at last it spreads out into the 
ocean of eternal joy which is illimit- 
able, unfathomable. 

As there is false peace, so too there 
is a joy which is not joy in the Holy 
Ghost. The joy of which we have 
been speaking, which is the fruit of 
the Spirit, is accompanied with humil- 
ity and modesty, and does not behave 
itself unseemly, nor produce pride and 
presumption. It springs up, wells up 
in the soul ; it is a well of water spring- 
ing up into everlasting life. The joy of 
the hypocrite and of the enthusiast is 
only surface deep — animal excitement 
which passes away with the temporary 



38 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

causes, the external circumstances 
which excited it. It is apt to be ac- 
companied with self-confidence and 
boasting, 

INCREASE OF GRACE 

is a benefit flowing from justifica- 
tion, adoption, and sanctification. " By- 
it we are to understand the gradual 
advances which true believers are en- 
abled to make in a holy temper, in the 
actual exercises of the Christian graces, 
and in all the duties of practical god- 
liness." 

This growth of grace is connected 
with justification, for it comes only by 
a union with Christ, and without him 
we can do nothing; of his fulness 
must we receive, and grace for grace. 
By union with him — the same union by 
which we at first obtained justification 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 39 

and adoption — we also secure our 
growth in grace. United to him by 
faith, we shall be able to bear much 
fruit. 

In order to increase in grace we 
must begin aright ; we must seek sal- 
vation, not by the deeds of the law, 
but by the hearing of faith ; we must 
be free from the covenant of works. 
Those do not grow in grace who go 
about to establish a righteousness of 
their own. The fastings, many prayers, 
and penances of the Pharisee or hermit, 
never caused them to grow in grace. 

Grace is a plant which must take 
root downward, and bear fruit upward. 
The seed is planted in the heart, and 
the roots may be strengthening and 
extending when little appears extern- 
ally. 

Not only is the Christian to grow 



40 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

as the lily ; that is, to be growing more 
and more pure and irreproachable in his 
whole deportment, his whole external 
life ; but he is to cast forth roots like 
Lebanon ; he is to become rooted and 
grounded more firmly in the truth, 
and thus be growing more stable. He 
is to grow in humilit}' and meekness, 
and in the fear of the Lord. Growth 
in grace will be indicated by an in- 
creasing distrust of self, a greater ab- 
horrence of sin, a growing desire and 
increasing struggle to put off the old 
man and put on the new man ; by the 
more frequent lamentations over in- 
dwelling sin, and more earnest long- 
ings to be free from this body of sin 
and death; and as he understands 
more perfectly what is the measure 
of the stature of the fulness of Christ, 
he will confess that he accounts not 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 41 

himself to have apprehended, bat this 
one thing will he do : forgetting the 
things which are behind, and reaching 
forth unto those which are before, he 
will press toward the mark for the 
prize of the high calling of God in 
Christ Jesus. 

Increase of grace, where all the 
means of grace are diligently used, 
will progress by more than simple 
ratio. 

The growth of a plant is slow, and 
apparently precarious at first, its roots 
feeble and few ; but as it grows, those 
roots multiply, enlarge, and extend ; 
and by every degree of augmented 
increase of these, the capacities of 
the plant are multiplied for receiving 
larger supplies of nourishment, and, 
consequently, for growing still more 
rapidly ; also more leaves are spread 

4* 



42 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

out to catch the dew and the rain, 
with more surface to breathe the air, 
and to be revived by the sun. So the 
believer, the more he grows, the more 
may he grow. 

We do not say that believers do 
thus steadily advance in their heaven- 
ward course : alas ! no ; for how many 
seem to be standing still ! and some- 
times whatever movement there is 
seems to be backward. But we do say 
that it is the privilege of every believer 
to be all the time advancing ; and so 
he will advance if he will lay aside 
every weight, and the sins which do so 
easily beset him, and run with patience 
in the race which is set before him. 
If he will wait on the Lord he shall 
renew his strength, and mount up with 
wings as eagles, and run and not be 
weary, and walk and not faint. His 



THE PROFITS OP GODLINESS. 43 

path may shine more and more unto 
the perfect day. All God's dealings 
with him may help him in his growth 
in grace ; and every day he may have 
some fruit unto God, and the end ever- 
lasting life. 

Increase of grace ! Yes, believer. 
You may receive a constant increase 
of the gracious influences of the Spirit, 
and of all the fruits of the Spirit. 
You may have grace to help in every 
time of need. The fountain is inex- 
haustible. There is oil enough in the 
two olive trees to supply the seven 
lamps of the golden candle stick. 
There is sap enough in the vine to 
nourish to perfection every branch that 
is engrafted on it. Of Christ's fulness 
may all we receive, and grace for grace. 
In the sincere milk of the word and its 
strong meat, there is nourishment suf- 



44 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

ficient to bring on every child of God 
even to the measure of the stature of 
the fulness of Christ. 

Increase of grace will manifest itself 
to others besides the person that is the 
subject of it ; for he who grows in grace 
will grow also in usefulness, as well as 
in the symmetry and beauty of a holy 
life. 

With love, peace, joy, and increase 
of grace, there is also this other benefit 
of 

PERSEVERANCE THEREIN TO THE END, 

which likewise is a consequence of 
justification, adoption, and sanctifica- 
tion. 

Perseverance in grace till the end of 
life. This is the doctrine ; and it fol- 
lows legitimately from the other doc- 
trines : it is a truth necessarily con- 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 45 

nected with th,e other truths which we 
have been considering. If the doctrine 
of the saints' perseverance is without 
foundation, then also is the doctrine of 
justification, adoption, and sanctifica- 
tion without foundation. Deny the 
doctrine, or prove the doctrine of the 
saints' perseverance untrue, and you 
send us back to remodel all this dis- 
course ; (that however, in itself, would 
be a light matter;) you must call back 
Paul from his much longed for rest 
after having finished his course and 
kept the faith — you must call him back 
to rewrite all his epistles ; you must 
summon again all the writers of the 
Scriptures, and tell them to modify 
their work so as to leave out all those 
passages which teach the faithfulness 
of God, his constancy, and that having 
begun a good work he will complete 



46 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

it. You must tell thenuto modify their 
work so as to give us doctrines that 
will not by their irresistible logic lead 
us, willing or not willing, directly into 
the arms of this inevitable conclusion, 
that whom God hath foreknown, and 
predestinated, and called, and justified, 
them he also glorified, and will glorify ; 
and that nothing shall separate them 
from the love of God which is in 
Christ Jesus, our Lord. Rom. viii. 29. 
From that expression, " Whom he did 
foreknow," we are led to inquire, How 
did he foreknow ? To the five foolish 
virgins who came too late, and who 
cried, " Lord, Lord, open to us," he 
answered, " I know you not." In an- 
other place, Christ, when speaking of 
many who at the last day will profess 
acquaintance with him, and on that 
ground claim the right to be admitted 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 47 

to dwell with, him, says, " I will pro- 
fess unto them, I never knew you." 
Now we are fully assured that there 
is not an individual of the human 
family that is unknown to Christ : he 
knows us altogether, all our thoughts ; 
and from eternity he knew it all. 
Then when he says, " I never knew 
you, depart from me/' he must mean I 
never knew you as mine. So when we 
read, "Whom he did foreknow," we 
may read it with the same interpreta- 
tion, whom he did foreknow as Ms — 
whom therefore he did designate; for he 
foreknew respecting one person as well 
as another that he would be born, and 
all the acts and thoughts of his life he 
foreknew. It will not do to say that 
he foreknew certain ones that they 
would be good, and certain other ones 
that they would not be good ; for, were 



48 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

not all mankind alike in the same con- 
demnation, and in the same misery 
and helplessness ? Then how could he 
foreknow that any of these more than 
others would be good, unless it was in 
his power and in his purpose to make 
them good ? 

Further we read, "Them he did pre- 
destinate." But predestinate to what ? 
" To the adoption of children/' we 
read. Eph. i. 5. God, then, predes- 
tinated certain persons, that he had 
designated, to the adoption of children. 
The adoption of children ! And how 
do men adopt children ? Is it with 
the expectation and deliberate inten- 
tion of rejecting, disinheriting, and 
turning them out again by and by ? 
And those whom God predestinates to 
the adoption of sons, does he not de- 
termine himself to make them sons ? 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 49 

and to send forth into their hearts the 
spirit of adoption ? For how else 
could they become sons ? 

Still further we read, iC Them he 
also called." How did he call them ? 
With the external call only ? or with 
both the external and the internal call ? 
— with the ordinary ? or with the effec- 
tual calling ? And is not the Spirit 
which unites us to Christ in our effec- 
tual calling as well able to preserve 
that union, as to form it in the first 
instance ? 

And to what are those called who 
were foreknown and predestinated ? 
They were called to be saints. Saints 
are those who are set apart — conse- 
crated. And to what are they set 
apart? They are set apart to God, 
and consecrated to his service, to be to 
him " a chosen generation, a royal 



50 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar 
people/' and that for ever. And who is 
it that must clothe and qualify them 
for these offices and honours? And 
will not the same motives which oper- 
ated in the mind of God to choose them 
at first, still operate to preserve them 
in his favour ? 

They are " a chosen generation/' Were 
they chosen because of foreseen good 
works, on account of which therefore 
they might glory ? No, but rather 
they were chosen and called unto what- 
ever holiness they have, and therefore 
it becomes them to be humble and 
thankful ; and so we read, "But we are 
bound to give thanks always to God 
for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, 
because {because) God hath from the 
beginning chosen you to salvation, 
through sanctification of the Spirit, and 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 51 

belief of the truth ; whereunto {where- 
unto) he called you by our gospel, to 
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord 
Jesus Christ." 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14. 

" Chosen you to salvation." And 
what is salvation ? Is it for a little 
while to indulge a hope that God has 
freely pardoned all our sins, received 
us into his favour, and then to be thrown 
back again upon our own strength, 
(which strength is weakness,) and our 
continuance in his favour to be made to 
depend on such a fickle thing as our own 
purpose — on such a rotten thing as any 
or every thing that we have in our- 
selves ? 

What is salvation ? Is it just to step 
into the straight and narrow path, and 
then step out again ? Or is it to travel 
all the length of the celestial road, even 
up to the very gates of the holy city, 



52 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

and then to fall and sink to hell; or 
just as we were about to be admitted 
within the pearly gates, to be seized 
and carried off by him who is our ad- 
versary, and immensely stronger than 
the strongest saint — would even that 
be salvation ? No. Those only are 
saved who are delivered and perma- 
nently saved from the wrath of God, 
saved from the dominion of sin, saved 
from the power of the devil, saved 
from going down to the pit. 

Are you then surprised to find us 
believing in the doctrine that those 
who were " chosen to salvation" will 
persevere to the end, and not lose that 
salvation ? You would be surprised 
to find us believing anything opposed 
to this. You would be amazed to hear 
us expressing a belief in that text 
which reads, "Whereunto he called 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 53 

you by our gospel to the obtaining of 
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ/' 
and then to see us turning directly 
around and asserting that some who are 
thus called may not after all obtain that 
glory ; and that, therefore, the prayer — 
nay, the will, the will of Christ must be 
subverted, (the will expressed when he 
referred to the covenant which the Fa- 
ther had made with him when he pro- 
mised a reward for his sufferings,) when 
he said, " Father, I will that they also 
whom thou hast given me be with me 
where I am ; that they may behold my 
glory which thou hast given me." You 
would be amazed to hear us intimating 
that the will of Christ, whom the Fa- 
ther heareth always, and who himself 
is a sovereign and will do all his plea- 
sure, that his will in this respect might 

not be consummated. You would be 
5* 



54 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

amazed to hear us intimating that 
Christ, despite his most ardent wish, 
would yet be compelled to lose any 
that the Father hath given him ; or 
that there might be any power capable 
of plucking them out of the Father's 
hand. 

Of course, then, we believe in the 
doctrine of the perseverance of the 
saints ; and so also do you, if you be- 
lieve that they were " chosen to salva- 
tion," and " called to the obtaining of 
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

This doctrine flows by consequence 
from the doctrine of justification, adop- 
tion, and sanctification. For, what is jus- 
tification ? It is a sentence of acquittal. 
It is saying, Let the prisoner live. 
And for how long a time let him live ? 
And what was the ground — the sole 
ground of that acquittal ? Was it not the 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 55 

righteousness of Christ, and that only ? 
And will not that ground always be as 
valid as it was when God determined to 
pardon the sinner for the sake of Christ ? 
Will the righteousness of Christ be 
worth less after the believer has lived 
on ten, thirty, or fifty years, than it 
was when the Lord first said, " Thy 
sins are forgiven thee ; go in peace V 

The final perseverance of the saints 
is a necessary conclusion from the be- 
lief in adoption ; for the gifts and call- 
ing of God are without repentance. 
And to all who are adopted is given the 
Spirit of adoption — the Spirit that 
works in them the feelings, the affec- 
tions of children ; so that they will serve 
God, not as servants, but as sons : and 
God who first chose them to be his 
children, and loved them, and honoured 



56 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

them, and made them his heirs, will 
love them still — love them for ever. 

If you believe in the doctrine of 
sanctification, as it has been briefly 
presented in these pages, you will be- 
lieve in the doctrine of the saints' per- 
severance. For, is not sanctification 
in any degree, and in any of its stages, 
entirely the work of God's free grace, 
through the agency of the Holy Spirit ? 
And is he not as able to complete the 
work as he was to begin it ? And is he 
not as willing ? And is it God's way to 
begin a work, and then abandon it ? 

No. He will not abandon it ; but 
rather, you may be " confident of this 
very thing, that he which hath begun 
a good work in you, will perform it 
until the day of Jesus Christ." 

If perseverance in grace to the end 
Is not a benefit flowing from justifica- 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 57 

tion, adoption, and sanctification, then 
neither is the assurance of God's love, 
or peace of conscience, nor joy in the 
Holy Ghost, nor increase of grace. 

For, why did God ever love his 
saints ? Or who was it that first 
loved ? Did we first love him, or did 
he first love us ? He loved us while 
we were yet enemies : while we were 
under the curse, and in all our sins he 
loved us. 

He foreknew, then he predestinated, 
and called, and justified us. And if he 
loved us before we were pardoned, be- 
fore we actually had a union with 
Christ, will he love us less after we 
are rendered entirely accepted in the 
Beloved, and that his own Beloved; and 
after we are clothed upon with all the 
beautiful garments of Christ's right- 
eousness, yea, also, and after his own 



58 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

Son has espoused us to himself as 
his bride ? 

If God loved us before we were " fel- 
low-citizens of the saints, and of the 
household of God/ 7 will he cast us off 
after his love and his grace have made 
us just this very thing that he would 
have us to be ? If he loved us before 
we had a single feeling of a son, will 
he cast us off and recall that love after 
we have begun to love him, and to call 
him Father ? 

You cannot wonder then that we 
should believe in the doctrine of the 
saints' perseverance. 

Again, as to peace of conscience — how 
can it be enjoyed by a person who has 
no surety ; who fears that to-morrow, 
or the next hour he may, find himself 
under the wrath and curse of God ? 
How can one have peace of conscience 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 59 

unless he has ground to hope that his 
transgression is for ever forgiven, and 
his sin covered, yea, and buried as in 
the bottom of the sea ? How can he 
have peace of conscience who fears that 
at any time he may find himself to be 
again at enmity with God, and God 
angry with him ? 

Or how can he have /ay who cannot 
trust the faithfulness of Christ ? Why, 
my friends, can a wife have joy who 
cannot depend upon the constancy of 
her husband ? And so, we have joy 
in our espousals, because we believe 
that He who has loved us will love us to 
the end — that he will not discard us. 
We rejoice because we trust that our 
names are written in the Lamb's book 
of life. We rejoice because we know 
that our perseverance to the end does 
not depend upon our own poor, weak, 



60 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

sinning, inconstant selves, but upon 
the unchanging love, and unfailing- 
power of Him who first loved us. 

Very likely some, as they are read- 
ing this, will be ready to ask, if we do 
not know that it has been urged against 
this doctrine that by it the saint may 
be tempted to be less watchful, less 
diligent in Christian duty ? Yes, we 
are aware that such charges have been 
made. 

And will it be further asked if we are 
not, at least, apprehensive that some 
such effects may follow such preaching ? 
No ! never ! No one that will give a 
person credit for faith in such doctrines 
as all these which have been here pre- 
sented, will suppose him capable of 
thinking that the doctrine of the per- 
severance of the saints, when preached 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 61 

to them, can in any way make them 
to become less saints. 

In the first place, we do not say to 
such an one, or to such an one, You are 
a child of God : you are elected ; and do 
what you may, you will be saved. We 
do not say that ; nor have we any such 
doctrine to teach. We say to all, 
" Make your calling and election sure." 
" Strive to enter in* at the strait 
gate." 

In the second place, we say that 
every one must work out his own sal- 
vation with fear and trembling, for it 
is God that worketh in him to will and 
to do of his good pleasure ; we repeat 
the warning not to grieve the Holy 
Spirit ; we urge to watchfulness, and to 
prayerfulness ; we teach that only so 
far as one is living in the exercise of 
Christian duties, has he any evidence 



62 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

that he has been raised up to newness 
of life. 

In the third place, we ask if it has 
ever been known that a person loved 
his benefactor less, because in some way 
he had come to hear that that benefac- 
tor loved him so much — so very much 
that he had determined to continue 
those benefits as long as they both 
should live, and to increase them too, 
day by day ? Is there any such case 
on record ? 

Which of the adopted children would 
be likely to love the most, and to serve 
the father most faithfully : the one who 
had suspicions that by and by he would 
lose the father's love, and lose this 
blessing of adoption ; or the child who 
knew that the father so loved him 
that he would always love him as his 
son, and make him an heir to all his 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 63 

estates? Which child will love the 
most ; and which will be most faith- 
ful ? 

In the fourth place, we say that he 
who loves the law of God will endea- 
vour to keep it under all circumstances. 
He whose mind has been enlightened 
in the knowledge of Christ, will love 
to serve him, and will not follow him for 
the loaves and the fishes. But the per- 
son that could be less anxious to please 
God, less desirous to do good, because 
forsooth he had got an impression that 
he was safe and would be saved at any 
rate ; that person shows that he is a 
mercenary, a perfect Simon Magus, 
without part or lot in this matter, his 
heart not right in the sight of God, but 
still in the gall of bitterness, and in the 
bond of iniquity. 

Now then, if you are prepared to 



64 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

admit that they that are effectually- 
called do in this life partake of justifi- 
cation, adoption, and sanctification ; and 
if you believe that the benefits which 
in this life do accompany- or flow from 
justification, adoption, and sanctifica- 
tion, are assurance of God's love, peace 
of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, 
increase of grace, and perseverance 
therein to the end ; then you will agree 
with the inspired apostle when he says 
that godliness is profitable unto all 
things, that it has promise of the life 
that now is, and of that which is to 
come. 

We have, in the preceding pages, 
followed the believer on through the 
life that now is, and we have met with 
nothing yet in godliness but that which 
is profitable. We have traced him on 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 65 

to the end of his earthly journey, and 
still we see him in safe hands, and 
there we are willing to leave him ; as- 
sured that " the righteous hath hope 
in his death/' and that " blessed are 
the dead that die in the Lord." There- 
fore, " Say ye to the righteous, that it 
shall be well with him ; for they shall 
eat the fruit of their doings. Wo unto 
the wicked ! it shall be ill with him ; 
for the reward of his hands shall be 

given him." 
6* 



66 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 



BENEFIT OF RELIGION AT DEATH. 

And I heard a voice from heaven saying nnto me, 
Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord 
from henceforth ; Yea, saith the Spirit, that they 
may rest from their labours ; and their works do fol- 
low them. Rev. xiv. 13. 

In the preceding pages we learned 
what are some of the benefits of reli- 
gion in this life, and it appeared very 
clearly that godliness is profitable unto 
all things, having promise of the life 
that now is, and of that which is to 
come. We found the Christian rejoic- 
ing in the assurance of God's love, in 
peace of conscience, joy in the Holy 
Ghost, increase of grace, and persever- 
ance therein to the end. We found 
him still growing in grace, still holding 
on his way, having kept the faith, till 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 67 

he was just about to finish his earthly 
course. We traced him through his 
earthly pilgrimage, till he had come 
down to the river which divides that 
heavenly land from ours, and we saw 
that it was still well with him ; he had 
found no reason yet to repent that he 
had chosen God for his portion. We 
found him trusting in the promises ; 
we were well satisfied concerning him ; 
we had no fear, for we knew that He is 
faithful that hath promised. 

And now shall we attempt to trace 
his course still further ? But how un- 
equal are we to such a task ! 

As well might the disciples, by leap- 
ing upwards, have essayed to fly away 
with their divine Master, when that 
bright cloud received him on Mount 
Olivet, and bore him in its shining 



68 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

folds beyond the skies to his Father and 
our Father, to his God and our God. 

Attempt to follow the freed spirit 
which now is no longer here, for God 
has taken it ! How vain ! nay, how 
presumptuous ! We feel as we some- 
times have thought Elisha must have 
felt when his master Elijah was taken 
from him. We seem dimly to see the 
horses of fire, and the chariot of fire, 
and the whirlwind bearing them all up- 
ward to glory, leaving us behind down 
here, still in this vale of sin and 
sorrow, to wait yet a while till the 
angels shall come for us. 

The most that we know — all that 
we can know definitely of what is ex- 
perienced by the soul in its passage 
from earth to heaven, after it has left 
the body, we must learn from revela- 
tion ; and all we know definitely of the 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 69 

employments and enjoyments of the 
world of glory we learn from revela- 
tion. 

There is, however, much to be 
learned from what the saint enjoys on 
earth in the foretastes of heavenly joy — 
those antepasts of what shall be en- 
joyed at the marriage supper of the 
Lamb, for 

* The men of grace have found 
Glory begun below : 
Celestial fruits on earthly ground, 
From faith and hope may grow." 

The assurance of God's love, peace 
of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, 
and increase of grace, which the saint 
enjoys here, he shall enjoy in heaven ; 
but then it will be in a degree infin- 
itely above and beyond anything which 
we, in this world, can even conceive of. 

Still there is something to be learned 



70 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

in the chamber, where the good man 
dies : for have we not reliable testimony 
concerning very happy death-beds ? 
Have there not been cases in which 
heaven seemed to be opening to the 
vision of the soul before the spirit had 
quite forsaken its clay, in which the 
dying saint seemed to catch upon his 
ravished ear some notes of the celestial 
music — cases in which the departing 
friend appeared to be abstracted from 
all around him, and to be communing 
with spiritual visitants ; and now and 
then the lips of the dying friend would 
move ; and now and then he would 
speak half-audibly, as though the forms 
of angels were with him waiting to 
bear his spirit home ; and now and 
then he speaks as though Jesus was 
near, and he could see him, with his 
pierced hands and wounded side, yet 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 71 

with his many crowns upon his head, 
and beckoning him to come to the man- 
sions which he had prepared, and say- 
ing, Come now with me to my Father 
and your Father, to my God and your 
God. 

And they who were gathered around 
that couch, bathed in tears, sorrow- 
ing yet rejoicing, bent their ears to the 
pale lips of the dying one, and they 
heard a gently murmuring sound, or a 
sweet whisper, and it said, Come, Lord 
Jesus, 0, come quickly : and they could 
hear no more, for already the disen- 
cumbered spirit, with the angels sent 
down to be its convoy home, was 
mounting upward through the skies, 
leaving with them the now deserted 
tenement of clay, but still precious ; 
and they commit it to its kindred 
dust, while they comfort one another 



72 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

with the words of inspiration, " Them 
which sleep in Jesus will God bring 
with him." 

THE USE OF RELIGION AT THE DYING HOUR. 

The benefits which believers re- 
ceive at death, at the resurrection, 
and throughout eternity, are stated, 
or some of them are stated, in the 
answers to the 37th and 38th ques- 
tions of our Catechism. After speak- 
ing of the benefits of Christ's medi- 
ation and the profits of godliness 
for this life, the question is asked, 
" What benefits do believers receive 
from Christ at their death ?" and the 
answer which is given is, " The souls 
of believers are at their death made 
perfect in holiness, and do immediately 
pass into glory ; and their bodies, being 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 73 

still united to Christ, do rest in their 
graves till the resurrection." 

The term believers is here used to 
designate those who a little before, in 
the Catechism, were spoken of as those 
who are effectually called. They are 
termed believers because they receive 
the word of God — they receive the re- 
cord which God has given of his Son — 
they believe in his Son, trust in him, 
rely upon him as their Saviour ; and 
thus believing they have life through 
his name : they live by faith, are jus- 
tified by faith ; and so are they the 
children of Abraham, who is the father 
of the faithful. 

Believer is a term suggestive of char- 
acter. Such an one is a believer, it is 
said ; and at once we think of him who 
believed God and it was accounted unto 

him for righteousness ; w T ho believed 

7 



74 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

God and left his home and kindred and 
sought a country which he had not yet 
seen ; and who still, during all his 
earthly pilgrimage, was looking forward 
to a city which hath foundations, 
whose builder and maker is God. 

We think of Enoch who, by his faith, 
walked with God ; who had the evi- 
dence that he pleased God ; and who, 
by and by, was not, for God had taken 
him. We think of all those who, 
through faith and patience, have in- 
herited the promises. 

Such an one is a believer, it is said ; 
and we have before our minds the image 
of a person who takes God's word as the 
man of his counsel, who communes with 
God in secret, who prizes the sanctuary, 
and who says concerning it, " How 
amiable are thy tabernacles, Lord of 
hosts !" Such an one is a believer ; then 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 75 

he receives the commandments as the 
law of God, and endeavours to keep 
them ; he believes the promises, and is 
comforted by them ; he searches the 
holy oracles for records concerning 
Christ as the Lamb slain from the 
foundation of the world, as the Lord 
our righteousness, as Messiah the prince 
and as the man of sorrows, as called 
Jesus because he should save his peo- 
ple from their sins, as the first fruits 
of the resurrection, as ascending on 
high leading captivity captive and 
giving gifts unto men, and as now the 
Lamb in the midst of the throne. 

A believer ! why, he is then one 
who is united to Christ, and who there- 
fore will live because Christ lives ; 
and who, while he lives, will bring 
forth much fruit ; and when the hour 
of his departure comes, being still 



76 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

united to Christ, his body shall rest in 
hope till the resurrection, and then 
will be raised up in glory ; being 
united to Christ, Christ will remember, 
and will receive his soul to himself in 
paradise, the moment it is freed from 
its earthly house. 

He is a believer : then he may be a 
happy person at all times, and in all 
circumstances ; for believing we rejoice 
with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. 
If he is a believer, he may be rejoicing 
always ; he rejoices in tribulation, be- 
cause he knows what it worketh — pa- 
tience, experience, and hope ; he know- 
eth that the trial of our faith is much 
more precious than of gold that perish- 
eth, and that our light afflictions, 
whatever they are, work for us a far 
more exceeding, and eternal weight of 
glory. He may be cheerful in the 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 77 

midst of darkness, for he can say, 
" Though clouds and darkness may be 
round about Him, yet righteousness and 
judgment are the habitation of his 
throne." He can say, " I know in 
whom I have believed, and am per- 
suaded that he is able to keep that 
which I have committed to him against 
that day." He may pass through the 
fires ; he may sink in deep waters ; he 
may be called to go down into the val- 
ley of the shadow of death ; flesh and 
heart may fail him; still he knows whom 
he has trusted ; still he remembers to 
whom he has committed the keeping 
of his soul ; still he believes, and be- 
lieving he is able to rejoice. 

And now, more particularly, let us 
inquire what benefits do such persons 
receive from Christ at their death ? 

One item is this, " The souls of be- 



78 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

lievers are at their death made perfect 
in holiness, and do 

IMMEDIATELY PASS INTO GLORY." 

And how do we know that the souls 
of believers do at death immediately 
pass into glory ? We know it from the 
assurance given by Christ to the thief 
on the cross, when he said, " To-day 
shalt thou be with me in paradise." 
" To-day," he said. It was then that 
very day on which they were crucified ; 
and before the close of that day both 
had departed this life. Christ, of him- 
self, gave up the ghost at the ninth 
hour ; and before the going down of 
the sun the soldiers came and brake 
the legs of the malefactors that were 
crucified with them, and so caused their 
speedy death. 

" To-day shalt thou be with me in 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 79 

paradise." There was therefore neither 
a sleep for ages, nor yet such a place 
as purgatory for the malefactor to pass 
through on his way to heaven. It 
would seem that if any person needed 
the purifying influence of purgatorial 
fires, it would have been this criminal 
who came from his cell in the prison 
to expiate crimes of uncommon turpi- 
tude upon the cross. They who believe 
in the doctrine of justification by faith 
will not be likely to be troubled with 
the Romish dogma of a purgatory. For, 
if we are justified, we are freed from con- 
demnation ; if we are saved by faith, 
we are not saved by works ; if the suf- 
ferings of Christ atone for transgression, 
there is no need for penal sufferings on 
our part ; if the blood of Christ clean- 
seth from all sin, then there would be 
no sin for purgatorial fires to cleanse. 



80 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

If the Holy Spirit is our Sanctifier, 
the work of sanctification is likely to 
remain with him, nor will he need to 
plunge the souls into the fires of a pur- 
gatory ere they can be made clean. 
No ; for he purifies our hearts by faith ; 
we are " sanctified by the washing of 
regeneration, and by the renewing of 
the Holy Ghost ;" we are " sanctified 
through the truth ;" " by sanctification 
of the Spirit and belief of the truth ;" 
and by means of tribulation too, but 
that tribulation is in this world ; it is 
those light afflictions which work for 
us that far more exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory ; and those afflictions 
and tribulations are in this world, and 
before death ; for he who by inspira- 
tion said that "our light affliction 
worketh for us a far more exceeding 
and eternal weight of glory," said also 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 81 

thus, " For we know that if our earthly 
house of this tabernacle be dissolved, 
we have a building of God, a house 
not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens." " To depart and be with 
Christ is far better." Thus he said ; 
and from this which he said it appears 
that he knew nothing of an intermedi- 
ate place — nothing of a period to elapse 
between being in the body and being 
clothed upon with our house which is 
from heaven — nothing of an intermedi- 
ate dwelling place between this taber- 
nacle and the house not made with 
hands. He believed that for the saint 
to depart was to be with Christ ; the 
moment therefore that the soul leaves 
the body, that moment is it with the 
Lord. 

Again, when speaking of his being 
ready to be offered, and the time of 



82 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

his departure being at hand, having 
fought a good fight and finished his 
course, Paul said, that henceforth there 
was laid up for him a crown of righteous- 
ness. It was from henceforth — imme- 
diately ; for as soon as the victory was 
won, the victor should be crowned. 

We remember also the testimony of 
John the seer. In vision he saw be- 
fore the throne, and following the 
Lamb whithersoever he goeth, those 
who had come out of great tribulation. 
And what kind of tribulation was it ? 
Was it purgatorial tribulation? No, 
indeed ! It was such tribulation as 
those endure who experience the perse- 
cutions of that apostate church, which 
teaches this false doctrine of a purga- 
tory; it was tribulation, such as the 
witnesses endured who " were beheaded 
for the witness of Jesus, and for the 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 83 

word of God, and which had not wor- 
shipped the beast, neither his image, 
neither had received his mark upon 
their foreheads, nor in their hands." 
The tribulation of which John speaks, 
was such as he himself endured for 
the word of God, and for the testimony 
of Jesus ; and the like of which he inti- 
mates that we ourselves while yei above 
ground may suffer, for he subscribes 
himself as our companion in tribulation, 
and in the kingdom and patience of 
Jesus Christ. 

If there is such a place as purgatory, 
is it not extremely surprising that 
John in all his visions had no intima- 
tion of it? but that, on the contrary, he 
heard a voice from heaven, and was 
commanded to write it — a voice say- 
ing, " Blessed are the dead that die 
in the Lord from henceforth ;" — from 



84 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

henceforth — that is, immediately. He 
had said, " Here is the patience of the 
saints ; here are they that keep the 
commandments of God, and the faith 
of Jesus." This he said of those who 
refused to worship the beast, or to re- 
ceive his mark ; and immediately he 
was directed to say, u Blessed are the 
dead that die in the Lord from hence- 
forth ;" and to say further, that " they 
rest from their labours." As soon, 
therefore, as they die they rest. They 
rest from their labours, from both active 
and passive labours, from travail and toil, 
from persecutions and tribulations. But 
— and here is a record which is sig- 
nificant — he saw the judgment exe- 
cuted upon the enemies of the saints, 
upon those who teach this very dogma 
of the purgatory ; and their torments 
were to be for ever and ever ; not for a 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 85 

term of years, nor for cycles of years, 
but for ever and ever ; and John, in all 
his visions and revelations, heard of no 
other kind of punishment for the wicked 
after death, than that which shall be 
everlasting — for ever and ever. 

Our Saviour gave his disciples to 
understand that to depart out of this 
world was to go immediately to be 
with him ; that when he left the world 
he would go and prepare the heavenly 
mansions for them, and then would 
he come again and receive them to 
himself. He taught them that there 
should be no delay, so that they un- 
derstood his command to watch — 
" Watch therefore, for ye know neither 
the day nor the hour wherein the Son 
of man cometh" — they understood that 
as referring either to his coming for 
them individually at their death ; or to 



86 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

his second coming when he shall come 
to judge the world ; and when in the Re- 
velation they heard him say, u Surely 
I come quickly ;" their glad hearts re- 
sponded, " Amen. Even so, come. 
Lord Jesus." 

In the parable of the rich man and 
Lazarus, Jesus teaches that the souls 
of believers at their death do immedi- 
ately pass into glory. 

The soul of the beggar was repre- 
sented as carried at once, by the wait- 
ing angels, to rest in Abraham's bosom. 
The rich man, when he died, at once 
found himself in torments ; he could 
get no promise or encouragement that 
it would ever be better with him. He 
was plainly told that he had already 
received all his good things ; and that 
there was such a great gulf fixed — 
yes, fixed, and immovable, impassable 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 87 

— such a gulf fixed between hell and 
heaven that there was not, nor ever 
could there be, any passing from one 
place to the other. 

We are taught in the Scriptures 
that there remaineth a rest to the peo- 
ple of God, and that this rest immedi- 
ately follows their labours and trials 
on earth. " They rest from their la- 
bours, and their works do follow them." 
The Sabbath which follows our six 
days of work is a type of the eternal 
Sabbath into which the people of God 
do enter after all their earthly labours 
are at an end. God finished his six 
days' work in the creation of the world, 
and immediately as the sixth day 
closed, and the seventh began, he 
entered upon the day of rest ; and so 
Jesus, having finished all his media- 



88 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

torial work, entered immediately into 
his rest. 

The children of Israel finished their 
wilderness wanderings and sufferings 
by entering at once, by the passage of 
Jordan, into their promised land ; and 
so Jesus — our Joshua, our leader, brings 
his people at once from the wilderness 
into their Canaan. 

Nothing but the Jordan divides that 
heavenly land from ours. There, 
Christian reader, there flows the river; 
on this side is the wilderness ; but there 
flows the river; some of us, undoubt- 
edly, are very near it ; some so near, 
perhaps, that you can almost see it ; 
and across — -just on the other bank, 
are the sweet fields — that " land of pure 
delight." 

The Romish doctrine of a purgatory 
is, unquestionably, borrowed from the 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 89 

heathen — from Grecian and Roman 
mythology, aided also by what they 
may have learned from the Asiatics ; 
for the Buddhists of Asia have the 
same system of purgatorial torments 
which the papists teach ; and for the 
same purpose. The priests, for money, 
say prayers to release souls from pur- 
gatory. In books, and in some of their 
temples they have represented, in paint- 
ings, or by images, all conceivable tor- 
ments ; and in one place we see the 
passage where those who have been 
sufficiently purged are escaping from 
the scenes of suffering into the Elysian 
fields. 

The only text of canonical scripture, 
we believe, to which the papists pre- 
tend to resort to support that doctrine 
is this in 1 Peter iii. 18—20. " For 
Christ also hath once suffered for our 

8* 



90 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

sins, the just for the unjust, that he 
might bring us to God, being put to 
death in the flesh, but quickened by 
the Spirit ; by which also he went and 
preached to the spirits in prison ; which 
sometime were disobedient, when once 
the long suffering of God waited in the 
days of Noah, while the ark was pre- 
paring, wherein few, that is, eight souls, 
were saved by water." 

The papists would fain have it that 
the Spirit went into the purgatorial 
prison to preach to those antediluvian 
sinners that had not repented before 
the flood came ; but Peter himself, or 
rather the Lord who spoke by Peter, 
would have it, and would have us so 
understand it, that the Holy Spirit by 
which Christ was quickened, or raised 
again, after he was put to death in the 
flesh, is the same Spirit that by means 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 91 

of Noah, that preacher of righteousness, 
during all the time in which the ark 
was preparing, was preaching to the 
people of that generation ; but, alas ! 
the} r heeded not the preacher, but con- 
tinued in their sins — they continued 
disobedient until the flood came and 
swept them all away ; and now, poor 
souls ! they are the wretched spirits in 
prison ; that prison which is surrounded 
by the gulf over which there is no 
crossing. 

The souls of believers, then, do im- 
mediately pass into glory, and those 
souls, moreover, are made 

PERFECT IN HOLINESS, 

for otherwise they could not pass into 
glory. The change from partial sanctifi- 
cation to entire sanctification will then 
be instantaneous ; in a moment, in the 



92 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

twinkling of an eye ; like as it will be 
with the bodies of believers at the re- 
surrection ; just while they are being 
caught up to be with the Lord. 

They must be made perfect in holi- 
ness, for otherwise they could not 
pass into glory ; because we know that 
only " the pure in heart shall see God ;" 
" the ungodly shall not stand in the 
judgment, nor sinners in the congre- 
gation of the righteous." Heaven is a 
place into which nothing unholy or 
impure may enter ; but everything un- 
holy, everything that worketh abomi- 
nation, that loveth or maketh a lie, shall 
be shut out ; nothing can enter within 
that city, the New Jerusalem, but 
that which is perfect, for it is the abode 
of the " spirits of just men made per- 
fect" — made perfect; and this is the 
doctrine about which we are just now 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 93 

speaking, that " the souls of believers 
are at their death made perfect in holi- 
ness." Then it is that they are per- 
fectly sanctified ; all their dross and 
tin is then removed; they are then 
completely delivered from this body of 
sin and death : at death all the clogs, 
the weights, and sins which do now so 
easily beset us, will be entirely laid 
aside. Then there will be " no more 
curse." And what is the curse ? It 
is death — temporal and spiritual. And 
what is spiritual death ? It is sin ; 
sinful lusts, and all imperfections, moral 
weaknesses. But in heaven there shall 
be no more curse ; then in heaven there 
shall be no more sin, no more imper- 
fection of any kind whatever, not a 
vestige of the evil brought into the 
world by sin ; the moment a soul passes 
into glory, that moment must it be as 



94 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

holy as were our first parents before 
they fell — as pure as the angels — as 
glorious as the seraphim, those burn- 
ing ones that stand around about the 
throne. 

In what condition was it that John, 
in his visions, saw the redeemed in 
heaven ? Did he see any there with 
spots yet in their garments ? any with 
stains yet in their hearts ? Does he 
speak of some partially sanctified, and 
others wholly sanctified ? No, he saw 
none but those who were clad in pure 
white robes, and who were washed and 
made white — all white — in the blood 
of the Lamb. He saw none but those 
who were already prepared to follow 
the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, in 
whose mouth there is no guile, and 
who were without fault before the 
throne of God. 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 95 

Oh yes ; glorious thought ! " the 
souls of believers are, at their death, 
made perfect in holiness, and do imme- 
diately pass into glory." Then, my 
soul, there is a profit in godliness. 
" How blest the righteous when they 
die !" How profitable, oh how profit- 
able is godliness ! Then let us seek 
first the kingdom of God, and his right- 
eousness. 

AS TO THEIR BODIES. 

Respecting the bodies of believers — 
is the earthly house of this tabernacle 
when the Spirit leaves it — is this tab- 
ernacle to perish, and to be for ever 
forgotten ? Is this dust to return to 
its kindred dust, and no more to be 
gathered ? Is this earthly house to 
mingle with its mother earth, and 
henceforth come no more into remem- 



96 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

brance ? Nay — Nay, my readers. 
But do you carefully lay away the 
bodies of your deceased friends ; lay 
them gently down in their bed ; lay 
them down to their long sleep, and 
commit their dust to the keeping of 
Him to whom it is precious, and who 
will watch it till the resurrection 
morning, and then will bid it rise. 

Ah ! friends, there is comfort for you 
who have buried dear ones that have 
died in the Lord ; you may comfort 
yourselves with the assurance that the 
believer is united to Christ even as the 
branch to the vine, as the members 
to the head ; and that union, you 
may know, is perpetual ; and therefore 
in death they will still remain united 
to him ; nothing can separate them. 
" Not death, nor life, nor angels, nor 
principalities, nor powers, nor things 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 97 

present, nor things to come, nor height, 

nor depth, nor any other creature, shall 

be able to separate us from the love of 

God which is in Christ Jesus our 

Lord." Nothing can quench the love 

of Christ, nor break the union which 

binds Christ and the believer together. 

The believer is in Ofirist, in him by faith ; 

and so it is said, " There is therefore 

now no condemnation to them which 

are in Christ Jesus ; and therefore also 

it is written, u Blessed are the dead 

that die in the Lord" When they die 

they may not only say, "Lord Jesus, 

receive my spirit," but to him they 

may commit the keeping of their bodies, 

and gently fall asleep, as did Stephen ; 

and being still in Jesus they shall " sleep 

in him" and sleeping in him our " flesh 

shall rest in hope" — in hope of the 

resurrection. " Them which sleep in 
9 



98 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

Jesus will God bring with him," for 
as the head arose so shall all the mem- 
bers arise, and one assurance that the 
members shall arise is, that they are 
still united to Christ who is the head, 
and this our head has already arisen. 
1 Cor. xv. ; 1 Thess. iv. 

Then " blessed are the dead that die 
in the Lord from henceforth," for " their 
souls being made perfect in holiness 
do immediately pass into glory, and 
their bodies being still united to Christ 
do rest in their graves till the resurrec- 
tion : Yes — 

TILL THE RESURRECTION. 

For there is to be a Resurrection, 
both of the just and of the unjust, and 
then again will it appear what is the 
profit of godliness — what benefits those 
enjoy who in this world believed in 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 99 

Jesus, and who forsook all to follow 
him; for at the resurrection, "believers, 
being raised up in glory, shall be openly 
acknowledged and acquitted in the 
day of judgment, and made perfectly 
blessed in the full enjoying of God to 
all eternity/' 

There is to be a resurrection; we 
know it, for God has said it; and, 
moreover, Christ has arisen as the first 
fruits of them that sleep. And why 
should it be thought a thing incredible 
with you that God should raise the 
dead? 

In the autumn you see all vegeta- 
tion withering ; a fire burns up the stub- 
ble and the lifeless grass, and all the 
ground looks black and dead. The 
leaves fall from the trees ; and the sad 
wind wails a funeral hymn through the 



100 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

yet unburned and unburied branches 
during all the months of winter. 

A person who for the first time views 
these faded, fallen leaves and all this 
dead vegetation, would think it incred- 
ible that the earth should ever again ap- 
pear in green. But, let him wait till 
spring, and he shall see everywhere the 
springing grass, the opening flowers, 
and the forest awakening to life. 

There we may point you to a worm 
— a dull, a clumsy, creeping thing — 
an earth worm — all intent upon weav- 
ing its winding sheet in which, as a 
chrysalis, it is to lie for weeks or 
months, neither eating nor breathing, 
and without one sign of life. What 
is there more incredible than that it 
should awake again ? But wait ! In 
a few weeks you shall see that coffin 
opening, that winding sheet unfolding, 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 101 

and that worm, a worm no longer ; 
that dead slug a dead thing no longer ; 
that which once crawled upon the 
ground, to crawl no more ; but it 
awakens to life, and with gilded wings, 
to bask in the sunbeams, and to sip 
the honey from the flowers. 

You see the grain which is cast into 
the earth and dies there. But by and 
by that which was a dry kernel, then 
a dead and rotten thing, springs to life 
and to beauty. 

So must these bodies die, and go to 
corruption and to worms ; for as they 
are sown, they are natural bodies ; 
they are sown in weakness, in corrup- 
tion ; but when they are raised, they 
shall be raised in incorruption, in pow- 
er, and in glory ; they shall be spiritual 
bodies, even like unto our Saviour's 
own glorious body. Yes, they shall 



102 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

be raised spiritual ; no longer flesh 
and blood, for flesh and blood cannot 
inherit the kingdom of God. Thus 
shall all the saints that sleep in Jesus 
leave all bodily imperfections in the 
grave ; and so also those who are alive 
and remain when Christ shall come to 
summon the dead, bidding the graves 
to open and give up all that dust 
which they have been treasuring for 
him, and commanding the sea also to 
give up its dead ; so also, we say, 
shall those who are alive and remain 
be changed, and in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye ; and all together, 
those who are raised and those who 
are changed shall be caught up to meet 
the Lord in the air, and thus shall 
they ever be with the Lord. 
Believers shall be 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 103 
RAISED UP IN GLORY. 

That will be a glorious scene when 
the Lord shall descend from heaven 
attended by his holy angels, and he 
shall gather all his saints to meet him 
in the air, and all in their glorious 
resurrection bodies, like unto their Sa- 
viour's glorious body. Then too shall 
they behold the glory of the Lord — 
their Lord ; they shall sit with him in 
judgment ; they shall reign with him ; 
shall have crowns, and robes, and 
harps, and shall possess mansions ; 
they shall be adorned as a bride for 
her husband. Will not all this be glo- 
rious ? 

" At the resurrection, believers being 
raised up in glory, shall be openly ac- 
knowledged and acquitted in the day 
of judgment." They shall be 



104 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 
OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGED. 

Yes, for "when the Son of man 
shall come in his glory, and all the 
holy angels with him, then shall he 
sit upon the throne of his glory ; and 
before him shall be gathered all na- 
tions ; and he shall separate them one 
from another, as a shepherd divideth 
his sheep from the goats. Then shall 
the King say to them on his right 
hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, 
inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
from the foundation of the world ; for 
I was an hungered and ye gave me 
meat ; I was thirsty and ye gave me 
drink ; I was a stranger and ye took 
me in ; naked and ye clothed me ; I 
was sick and ye visited me ; I was in 
prison and ye came unto me. " 

Believers shall be openly acknow- 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 105 

ledged in the day of judgment. Be- 
cause when on earth they were not 
ashamed of Christ, Christ will not at 
the judgment day be ashamed of 
them ; they confessed him before men, 
and he will own them before his Fa- 
ther which is in heaven. 

They shall be openly acknowledged. 
Now they are God's hidden ones. 
God himself knows them indeed, and 
has his name enstamped upon their 
foreheads, and their names engraven 
on the palms of his hands ; he knows 
them, but the world may not know 
them. Now, indeed, they are a chosen 
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy 
nation, a peculiar people, but the world 
does not esteem nor honour them as 
such. At the judgment day, however, 
they shall be openly acknowledged, 
all this shall be publicly proclaimed 



106 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

concerning them ; yea, and he who 
hath redeemed them by his blood, and 
made them kings and priests unto God 
and his Father, shall openly acknow- 
ledge, and openly crown them as kings 
and priests, and thus present them to 
his Father in' the presence of the 
angels and the assembled nations. 
And they shall be 

OPENLY ACQUITTED. 

All believers are acquitted the in- 
stant the}' believe, for " there is no 
more condemnation to those who are 
in Christ Jesus ;" " being justified by 
faith, we have peace with God." The 
world, however, does not know all this ; 
but at the judgment day God shall 
openly, and before the universe, pro- 
nounce this acquittal. 

Now, many grievous things are laid 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 107 

to their charge. They are called hyp- 
ocrites, and deceivers, and charged 
with feigning piety from mercenary 
motives; but then God shall openly 
acquit them of all such accusations 
and slanders. Now they are reviled, 
and persecuted, and all manner of evil 
is spoken against them falsely ; but 
then they shall be openly acquitted ; 
and on their accusers shall be poured 
shame and everlasting contempt. 

Now, indeed, they are the sons and 
heirs of God; but men do not know 
it, so humble is their walk, and so 
meek their manners ; but then God 
shall publicly acknowledge them as 
his sons and daughters, whom, more- 
over, he foreknew, and loved, and 
chose from the foundation of the 
world ; but to all others he will say, 



108 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

" I never knew you ; depart from me 
all ye workers of iniquity." 

Thus shall they be openly acknow- 
ledged and acquitted in the 

DAT OF JUDGMENT. 

Yes, in the day of judgment ; for 
there is to be such a day. It will 
immediately succeed the resurrection 
morning. It will be a time of trial 
for every individual of mankind ; for 
* we must all appear before the judg- 
ment seat of Christ ;" " before him 
shall be gathered all nations;" "all 
that are in their graves shall hear his 
voice and shall come forth." All na- 
tions, and every individual of each na- 
tion ; all generations, and every indi- 
vidual of each generation, from Adam 
to the last that is born of Adam's 
line, — every soul shall be there, and 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 109 

every soul reunited to its own body, 
and thus shall they all, small and 
great, stand before the judgment seat 
of Christ. " God hath appointed a 
day in which he will judge the world 
in righteousness, by that man whom 
he hath ordained." 

Said John in the Revelations, " And 
I saw a great white throne, and him 
that sat on it, from whose face the 
earth and the heaven fled away ; and 
there was found no place for them. 
And I saw the dead, small and great, 
stand before God ; and the books were 
opened ; and another book was opened, 
which is the book of life ; and the 
dead were judged out of those things 
which were written in the books, ac- 
cording to their works. And the sea 
gave up the dead which were in it ; 

and death and hell delivered up the 
10 



110 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

dead which were in them ; and they 
were judged every man according to 
their works. And death and hell were 
cast into the lake of fire. This is the 
second death. And whosoever was 
not found written in the book of life 
was cast into the lake of fire/' 

They shall be judged out of those 
things which are written in the books, 
according to their works ; and those 
against whose names it shall be found 
written, They gave me no meat ; they 
gave me no drink ; they took me not 
in ; they clothed me not ; they visited 
me not — those must go away into 
punishment everlasting ; but the right- 
eous into life everlasting. Those whose 
names shall be found written in the 
book of life of the Lamb, they shall 
be received into life everlasting. 

That will be the day when Christ 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. Ill 

will make up his jewels ; the day in 
which he will publicly own his follow- 
ers ; and while he sends the wicked 
down to hell, he will say to those on 
his right hand, Come ye blessed of my 
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
for you from the foundation of the 
world. Thus shall he conduct them 
into " the presence of God, where there 
is fulness of joy," and place them " at 
his right hand, where there are plea- 
sures for evermore" — where they shall 
be made perfectly blessed in the full 
enjoying of God to all eternity. 

PERFECTLY BLESSED. 

Perfectly Blessed ! Even now — here 
in this world, we say of every one that 
has received the pardon of his sins, 
"Oh the blessedness of the man whose 
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is 



112 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

covered !" but how much more when he 
has been openly acknowledged and 
acquitted, and has entered into that ful- 
ness of joy, and those pleasures which 
are to be for evermore. 

Perfectly Blessed! How, oh how 
shall we speak of it ! Blessedness 
without lack, without alloy, without in- 
terruption, and never ceasing ! Every 
one of those multitudes that no man can 
number perfectly blessed ! Every soul 
filled full of joy in an ocean of de- 
light ! in an atmosphere of purity and 
bliss ! in a world of glory, and full of 
glory ! drinking endless pleasures in, 
and with ever enlarging capacities for 
that pleasure, that bliss ! In the full 
enjoying of God to all eternity — to all 
eternity ! Even now we are glad in 
the Lord, and our meditation of him is 
sweet ; his word is sweet to our taste. 



THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 113 

Even here, while compassed with sin, 
and in our bodies of flesh, and seeing 
through a glass darkly, we yet remem- 
ber him upon our beds, and meditate 
upon him in the night watches, and 
our soul is satisfied as with mar- 
row and fatness, and our mouth doth 
praise him with joyful lips ; then how 
much more when we stand in his pre- 
sence, and at his right hand — how much 
more when we awake in his likeness 
and see him as he is ! 

Oh, who can tell what the full enjoy- 
ing of God is ! No tongue can tell ; 
Gabriel could not make us understand 
it ; but if we are believers we soon 
shall know it, and know it for ourselves. 
Yes, soon all of us will know either 
the fulness of joy tft God's right hand, 
or the misery of the wicked who are 

driven away in their wickedness ; and 

10 * 



114 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 

into whichever state we enter it will 
be for eternity — for eternity! 

Surely godliness is profitable ; it is a 
pearl of great price. 

Say ye to the righteous it shall be 
well with him. 

" He that hath made his refuge God 
Shall find a most secure abode ; 
Shall walk all day beneath his shade, 
And there at night shall rest his head. 

Then will I say, ' My God, thy power 
Shall be my fortress and my tower ; 
I that am formed of feeble dust 
Make thine almighty arm my trust.' 

Thrice happy man ! thy Maker's care 
Shall keep thee from the fowler's snare ; 
From Satan's wiles, who still betrays 
Unguarded souls, a thousand ways. 

Just as a hen protects her brood, 
From birds of prey that seek their blood, 
The Lord his faithful saints shall guard, 
And endless life be their reward." 



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